


Love like Starlight

by Tayani



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Character Study, Established Relationship, F/M, Introspection, Post-Canon, Sweetness and Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 14:24:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15051098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tayani/pseuds/Tayani
Summary: Yusuke has been asked about the meaning of one of his newest pieces; but explaining something this personal to an outsider would prove extremely difficult.





	Love like Starlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benetnash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benetnash/gifts).



Though one would think all an artist needs is some skill and a good topic to use this skill towards, this was certainly not the case in the world of professional art. Yusuke Kitagawa, for one, has talent, skill and a bottomless well of inspiration on his hands; and yet, every time he had opened an exhibit, something inevitable ended up going wrong. Not spectacularly wrong, not career-threateningly wrong. More often than not, it was simply the case of Yusuke being unable to communicate with other people without getting them angry or annoyed, or getting angry or annoyed himself at their persistent lack of understanding when it came to interpreting his art.

It has often been the case with his admirers, recently. He has been asked countless times, during various exhibitions, about the _meaning_ of his most recent pieces, as if his art was a line of code needing to be translated into words. _The meaning is up to the viewer_ , Yusuke would always say, and wonder about the looks of dissatisfaction on the faces of people asking as they left, as if they thought he was hiding some grand, higher understanding from them on purpose. It was never the case. What meaning Yusuke attributed to his paintings, he was always clear in communicating; often naming the pieces by that which inspired him to paint them. And as for what he himself thought of while working on these general themes, well… that was too personal to share. That part should have been quite obvious to whomever stepped close to appreciate his art.

Yusuke sighed, looking at the piece that has caused the latest question like this; and the latest dissatisfaction brought upon by his lacklustre explanation of the theme. Ann had, admittedly, asked him not to show this particular piece to the public at first, as it was quite personal, and his gift for her, but after a bit of pleading on his part she relented. He was glad she did. Yusuke felt his expression melt into a fond, soft smile as he looked at the piece.

It was, in its subject, unremarkable; a simple landscape of dark, calm sea and starlight. The colours were toned down; playing with contrast of light and dark a bit, but not enough to put any stir into the perfectly balanced composition. The strokes in which it has been painted were long and flowing, and despite the colours leaning mostly towards the blues, the painting emanated soft, calm warmth from within. It was this feeling; the feeling most of the viewers of this piece shared; that earned it an honour place on his newest exhibition. Yusuke had to say, he has been taking some deep satisfaction from this fact.

As he walked closer to this painting, looking over it once more, the smile on the artist’s face only widened slightly.

_No one truly needs to ask what the meaning is. If they don’t see it for themselves, they’ll never understand it being explained to them_.

He still remembered the day he had painted this piece. They went away for the weekend; Ann being kind enough to shift her modelling schedule a bit so that she could accompany him to the little village by the sea he wanted to travel to, in search of inspiration. He still remembered Ann’s insistence on the fact she will not be posing for him, no matter how many times he had asked; and the conversation ensuing from this topic.

_You misunderstand, Ann_ , he remembered himself saying. _I simply wish to request your presence beside me as I work. It is the emotion itself I would like to paint today, rather than any physical form._

She has been surprised by that, yes. She asked for him to explain it better; and as he asked her to simply watch him paint instead of replying, she ended up agreeing to it, if only out of curiosity. Though to any viewer in this gallery the scenery on the painting had to be nothing more than a simple landscape, for Yusuke, it was a well of memories. He could still identify the star which he painted when Ann moved closer to him, wrapping a blanket around them both. He saw the slight tremor in one of the strokes of the sea surface that came to be when her hand covered his, and her lips moved to spell out the meaning of this piece to him; and himself pulling away from the painting and looking back at her, at how divine she looked, with starlight reflecting in her hair.

For Yusuke, the meaning of this painting was Ann. It was her kindness; the warmth of her smile. It was the years of her calming, loving presence by his side. The softness of her hair, and the lingering scent of perfume she left behind wherever she went. It was his love for her, sweet and both innocent and passionate, giving and jealous, selfless and possessive all at once. In these stars and waves, their whole relationship has been written down and explained and eternalized; just as their feelings for one another were in the whispered words, then, on that beach.

 Ann has often asked him about the meaning of his paintings, too, now that he thought of it. But her questions were of different nature from these of prying strangers. When she asked what Yusuke meant, what he thought when painting a certain piece, he never felt stalked or his privacy breeched. All he saw in her eyes then was the desire to understand him better; and no matter what piece he presented her with, she could always guess the overall theme of it, just as easily as back then, on their first exhibit together, she saw his frustration in the painting she thought of as Madarame’s and felt for him, even though what she looked at was simple deceit.

It had to be back then, Yusuke thought fondly, that he had truly fell in love, for the very first time. It had to be then that this piece; the piece he dedicated to Ann entirely; had its roots. And now, years and eras later; with the Phantom Thieves scattered and only held together by the bonds too strong to break away from, she was still by his side.

And with her, the stars still shone over the vast ocean; and his love, just like them, never stopped lightning his way.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even ship them but hecc benetnash made some wonderful points and now this fics exists. I hope you enjoy it, friend!
> 
> Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed this story, hmu on twitter [@mikan_writings](https://twitter.com/mikan_writings)!


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